In operation of conventional water heaters (e.g., electric water heaters), an unwanted scenario may occur where an electric heating element of the water heater is energized when insufficient water is present in the tank (i.e., the heating element is not submerged in water). This is called a dry fire. Dry fire is unwanted, because electric heating elements may become damaged if they are energized when not submerged in water.
Conventional water heater solutions have attempted to detect and avoid dry fire scenarios. However, these solutions typically rely on additional sensors to detect the dry fire scenario. For example, a conventional water heater may employ an additional, and otherwise unneeded, water level sensor to detect the presence of water in the tank prior to energizing the heating element. This is a costly solution, because an additional sensor (e.g., water sensor) must be installed into the tank during manufacturing.